Michael Beale shares Sunderland's transfer window verdict

Beale enjoyed his most productive afternoon as Sunderland head coach last weekend in an impressive 3-1 success over Stoke City before attention shifted to the final days of the January transfer window. 

Sunderland saw three new arrivals before Thursday's deadline with Leeds United defender Leo Hjelde, Standard Liege winger Romaine Mundle and Barnsley midfielder Callum Styles. Both Hjelde and Mundle are in contention for their Sunderland debuts on Teesside while Beale will have to wait to field Styles after the midfielder recently underwent surgery.

Sunderland are three points above Michael Carrick's Middlesbrough heading into Sunday's meeting with both teams now focused on a positive finish to the season now the window has closed. 

And this is what Beale had to say on Sunderland's transfer window and the fixture with Middlesbrough including Patrick Roberts' fitness:

What is your take on the club’s transfer window?

We’ve got three really good players who were targets for the club. I know the three players well. With Leo coming in, he’s had the most time within the group. He’s a player who I saw breakthrough in Scotland originally and came down to Leeds and did well, he’s highly thought of in his international set-up as well and he gives us a really good balance. Left-footed defenders who can play centre-back and full-back are hard to find so we think we’ve signed a really good player there at the right moment.

Romaine had a really excellent academy journey with Spurs before going over to Standard Liege and he’s a player who’s been on the club’s radar for a while. He comes in and gives us good versatility in wide areas. And Callum Styles, I think, is a really excellent football player who will benefit the club. He’s played a number of times for his national team and will go to the Euros as a midfielder but he can also play as a wing-back and a full-back, so in terms of the ins it’s really positive.

The boys who have gone out I feel it was part of their plan, ultimately, to go out and play more in the second half of the season. Certainly in Nectar and Eli’s situations they’re players we’ve got really high hopes for in the future. In terms of Jay, he’s just missed a lot of football and could do with playing. So, all in all, it was busy and it was positive. We now move forward.

Are you relaxed about the club not getting a No.9 in?

Relaxed is a big word for manager’s when you’re chasing and the expectation is to get in the play-offs and pushing on from there. Mason played ever so well last week and scored a goal. Naz has done well, Naz also can play off the left – if you asked him what his main position is he’d probably say as a left forward coming inside. He scored a couple of goals there for the second team earlier in the week so we’ll keep working.

Semedo is a player I think we should all have high hopes for in the future, he’s adjusting to the country and he’s had a couple of fitness issues recently in terms of carrying one or two knocks and we’ve had to be careful with him, that’s why he didn’t play in the B-team against Leeds. It’s a collective thing, the team score goals and at the weekend we had three different goalscorers, so that’s a good sign for us all.

The three strikers must now stake their claim?

It’s great for them on a personal level and now they’ve got to own it. Paddy is back in training and he’ll help us in that area as well, Abdoullah Ba as well, we’ve brought Romaine in, so I’m comfortable with our options.

The team needs to step up. I think sometimes being a striker for Sunderland is difficult; do we cross the ball enough? Do we, at times, try to score the perfect goal with a lot of intricate play? So it’s important we feed the No.9, regardless of who is in there and who’s got the shirt. It’s very important they get good service and I thought last week was a step in the right direction.

What are your thoughts on Middlesbrough and how to approach the game?

It’s an excellent game. If you look at the last six games in the form, we’re fifth and they’re sixth, so in the last six games it’s two teams with the same amount of points and who are riding high and have got the same ambition.

We know what happened in the home game, so there’s certainly an element of we’ll have to perform well. We’ll need to as the away team against Middlesbrough who are a good team. Michael Carrick has had a good start to his management career. In the last month at home they’ve played Aston Villa and narrowly lost and played Chelsea and won, so that’s a warning for how strong they are. We’ll need to be at our best.

Can you use the reverse fixture as a yardstick?

Each game is different, there’s a new coach and some new players will be involved in this game and we’re living in a different moment. It comes down to the penalty boxes as we’ve seen in other games this year.

Have you got to be mindful of Dan Ballard being on nine yellow cards?

It took him eight games to get that ninth booking so it would be nice if he could go that long again, but with him and with Luke O’Nien being two away, the emergence of Jenson has been really, really positive. Tim Pembele is now fit and he’s playing regularly in the seconds. Leo has come in and gives us that flexibility. The reason that Callum was delayed a little bit was that he had appendicitis and that’s knocked it back, but we expect him back in a couple of weeks as well.

But Jenson has come in and the last couple he’s been excellent. He is a centre-back, so at some point in the next couple of games we’re going to see him there when that booking finally comes.

You must be relieved not to lose many players in the window?

Every club wants to keep their best players but I never felt at any moment we were going to lose anybody. The boys all seemed really engaged. The big one was obviously some noise around Clarke but every single day Jack trains ever so well, he’s focused and seems very happy here.

Have you any worries about the team going into another derby and how to handle it?

It’s a game against an opponent down the round. We’ve both got the same ambitions this season, it’s two really good teams. There’s everything to look forward to. As the away team we’re going to need to be very strong defensively – our away form is an area we can certainly improve and with three out of the next four games away from home we’re going into a period where we’re going to have to go away from home and pick up points.

Last week was a huge team effort and much more how I want this team to play. We have to fully respect [Middlesbrough]. They came into our stadium earlier in the season and took the three points back in a comprehensive result so it’s important that we respond this weekend. And where we are in the league, every single game is important now.

You mentioned Patrick Roberts, is he likely to be involved?

He’ll be involved so long as he comes through training. He’s ahead of schedule. It’s important that we respect that as well, but if you ask Paddy, he’s fit and ready to go.